Crain's editor's Amazon comment triggers AOC to give in to critics

Ocasio-Cortez defends claims after helping kill company’s NYC project

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a blistering response Tuesday to Twitter commentary by a Crain's editor regarding the $3 billion in incentives the city and state offered Amazon in a failed attempt to woo the company to Queens.

The proposed complex promised at least 25,000 new jobs and $27 billion in revenue and enjoyed broad support from residents of Queens and core Democratic Party constituencies, according to polls. But the freshman congresswoman and her new ally, state Sen. Michael Gianaris, went to war over the public-assistance package the e-shopping behemoth was to receive before Amazon canceled its plans late last week.

Over the weekend, Ocasio-Cortez drew criticism for asserting that the $3 billion might instead go toward community investments, such as education and transit. Ocasio-Cortez's comment was played for Mayor Bill de Blasio on NBC's Meet the Press. De Blasio responded to the congresswoman's comments by saying, "That $3 billion that would go back in tax incentives was only after we were getting the jobs and getting the revenue...There’s no money."

While $505 million was a grant apparently intended to offset Amazon's cost of using union construction workers, the remaining $2.5 billion was contingent upon Amazon creating enough jobs in Long Island City to generate $27 billion in city and state tax revenue.

On Wednesday, Crain's assistant managing editor Erik Engquist tweeted about her claim. "I've been telling @AOC critics that she is smart, but what do I say when she says nonsense like 'we could invest those $3 billion in [@amazon tax breaks] in our district. We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways, we can put a lot of people to work for that money,'" he wrote.

Following the editor's tweet, the congresswoman gave in to critics questioning her understanding of tax incentives. She delivered an animated response to Engquist in a series of tweets, even as she quietly backed away from her earlier claim that the full $3 billion would now be available for reinvestment. Yahoo News reported, "Engquist's pile-on proved something of a last straw for Ocasio-Cortez."

"Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going. $500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.* $2.5 billion in tax breaks," she wrote. "It's fair to ask why we don't invest the capital for public use, + why we don't give working people a tax break."

Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going.

$500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.*

$2.5 billion in tax breaks.

It’s fair to ask why we don’t invest the capital for public use, + why we don’t give working people a tax break. https://t.co/jUqaugUHYP

"Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I 'don't understand' how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing," she added. "No, it's not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal."

Ocasio-Cortez eventually moved away from her original claims on "investing" tax incentives and began posting articles on how the deal would not benefit the Long Island City community. Her next tweet was a Business Insiderstory that showed the real estate pricing impact Amazon had started. Shortly after, she posted a Washington Poststory that detailed a meeting where Amazon pitched the idea of using facial recognition technology to ICE officials in order to identify immigrants. and Business Insider story, though she did not acknowledge

She concluded her barrage by saying:

Folks handling the failed deal treated community w/condescension+disdain for their legitimate concerns.

I warned early to any & all that surging NYC costs+failing subways are creating major political forces to be reckoned with.

Engquist later tweeted, "The state has a budget for tax expenditures, aka subsidies. Expenditures are funded by tax revenues. Money is fungible. So when NY offers subsidies in order to get tax revenue it would not otherwise get, and there's a net gain, we can say the taxes funded the subsidies. And more."

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